Sailors from Tahiti edged over Rarotonga, proving to be very competitive taking out first place in both the Lasers and the Optimist classes, winning the 2024 sailing challenge overall trophy.
Former Cook Islands prime minister and secretary-general of the Pacific Islands Forum, Henry Puna, has been confirmed as the first Cook Islander appointed to the East-West Center Board of Governors based in Honolulu, Hawaii.
HAWAII – A new volcanic fissure on Hawaii’s Big Island sent gases and lava exploding into the air, prompting officials to issue calls for more evacuations as residents awaited a possible major eruption at Kilauea volcano’s summit.
NAURU – A psychiatrist has said an acutely unwell child held within Australia’s offshore detention regime should not be returned to Nauru because his long-running detention there is causing his mental illness.
Hawai‘i – Hawai‘i’s governor has asked President Donald Trump to declare the state of Hawai‘i a major disaster area.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – Police in Papua New Guinea believe a village fisherman accidentally disturbed a drug-running operation after finding nearly 60 kilograms of what is suspected to be illicit drugs buried on a remote beach.
HAWAII – Hawaii’s Kilauea volcano has erupted out of two new vents prompting authorities to call for an immediate evacuation of residents from a second neighbourhood on the Big Island.
NEW ZEALAND – The Anglican Church in New Zealand has paved the way for the blessing of same-sex relationships – but Anglican churches in Polynesia will all opt out – the Anglican Synod said in a statement this week.
PACIFIC – New Zealand is set to hike foreign aid by more than $700 million over the next four years, as part of its signalled Pacific Reset strategy.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – A multinational mining company has withdrawn its financial support of the Solwara 1 seabed mining project in Papua New Guinea.
NEW ZEALAND – It will soon be revealed whether the New Zealand government is putting its money where its mouth is when it talks about a “Pacific reset”, with Foreign Minister Winston Peters unveiling his ministry’s funding plan last night.
Hawai‘i – The latest eruptions of Kilauea, the most active volcano on Hawai‘i’s Big Island, have rendered parts of a once-serene neighbourhood on the island unrecognisable.
Hawai‘i – Emergency authorities battling lava flows and gas erupting from Hawai‘i’s Kilauea volcano are warning some residents to “go now” as a new fissure has opened.
Hawai‘i – Officials in Hawai‘i have sought to reassure residents of other islands and tourists that the eruption is concentrated in a small region of the island and that most areas remain safe.
PAPUA NEW GUINEA – An ongoing security crisis in Papua New Guinea’s Hela province is preventing many earthquake-affected communities receiving relief.
NEW ZEALAND – Pasifika children in Auckland have an 18 times greater chance of developing type-2 diabetes than their European peers.
AUSTRALIA – Australia’s Foreign Minister Julie Bishop has warned Beijing against militarising the South China Sea following reports that China has installed missile systems in the Spratly Islands for the first time.
Hawai‘i – More homes on the Big Island of Hawai‘i have been destroyed as eruptions linked to the Kilauea volcano increased, with lava spewing into residential areas and forcing nearly 2000 people to flee, officials said.
THOUSANDS RALLY AGAINST INDEPENDENCE
Hawai‘i – Hawai‘i’s Kilauea volcano has erupted, forcing nearly 1800 residents to evacuate from their volcano-side homes as molten lava makes its way through forest land and bubbles up on paved streets.
PACIFIC – American marines will soon embed on Australia’s largest warship for a tour of Pacific island nations, as concerns grow among western allies over Beijing’s rising influence in the region.
NEW ZEALAND – New Zealand is aiming to crack the mystery of why it is often left off world maps, as part of a new tourism campaign featuring prime minister Jacinda Ardern.